“I was very excited and humbled”: Mastodon’s Troy Sanders wins Little League Baseball Regional Coach of the Year
The bassist swaps the stage for the field in his spare time.
Credit: Steve Jennings/Getty Images
Imagine going to watch your child or a younger relative play baseball and crossing paths with one of the most famous metal bassists around – who also happens to be a coach in Little League.
Yep, Mastodon’s Troy Sanders helps out at his local Florida Little League, where his son plays, and is a coach as well as league president and an umpire. And, in recognition of his work, he’s been named a Regional Baseball Coach of the Year.
He was given the Positive Coaching Alliance’s award for 2024 earlier this year, one of 36 regional winners selected from over 500 nominees across the US.
He said at the time, “I was not expecting it and knew nothing about it until I received the email letting me know I was selected. Then, once I did a little more research and learned about the nomination process that 10 of my current and former players’ parents went through for me, I was very excited and humbled.”
He continued, “To have what I feel is the most natural way to coach and lead these young players recognised outside of my own circle, it helped me feel like I am doing at least something right for these kids and it just felt exciting to be recognised in this way.”
Sanders played himself as a child, and a few years ago his son, then eight, signed up. After two seasons of watching his son, he began to volunteer, before becoming a coach and team manager, and he then spent four years on the Board of Directors before becoming League President.
He added, “Once I started as an assistant coach, it felt like a very natural and authentic progression. My son was very interested in baseball, and still is, which has allowed me to be super close to the game and a very active volunteer. There’s nothing I love more than coaching Little League.”
Mastodon released their latest album, Hushed and Grim, in October 2021, and most recently embarked on The Mega-Monsters Tour in 2023, taking in North and South America.